CHIKODIRI NWANGU
Nigerians went to the polls in late February to vote for a new president, as well as representatives to two houses of the federal parliament. The turnout was abysmal. There were over 93 million registered voters. But only a little over 25 million people voted. The Conversation Africa asked political scientist Chikodiri Nwangwu to unpack what happened.
Why was Nigeria’s voter turnout so low?
Firstly, there was insufficient voter education. Many Nigerians don’t understand the benefits of political participation, or don’t understand the electoral process. Little effort is made to explain it to them.
Although voter education is the statutory responsibility of both the electoral commission and political parties, their commitment to this task has been rather underwhelming.
Many adult Nigerians – especially in remote areas where media access and literacy levels are low – lack adequate appreciation of the voting process. They also don’t know enough about political parties’ ideologies and internal workings.
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